Red's True Love
by Yanto.Wilde
Summary: A Red Swan spin on the final episode. Minor spoilers for 1x21 and 1x22. R&R, Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, quick idea for a twoshot I got while watching OUaT. Red Swan Fic, what would have happened if Emma ate that turnover. Slightly au for before that. Don't forget to review.**

I've taken down the poll because ive decided I'll do the combination of a sequel to Angel and the house/oc crossover.

Despite the fact that she was working in six inch heels, moving back and forth between the dining room and the kitchen, Ruby had a smile on her face. The brunette was happy. Less than four hours ago, she'd seen her girlfriend's waking face and kissed those lips that were so appealing to her. In an hour, she'd take lunch over to her house or to the sheriff's office for them to share. She was finally happy in this small town.

Granny smiled to herself, loving the change that had come over the girl since she'd started dating Emma. Before the new sheriff had arrived, Ruby had been self-destructive and angry, always yelling. But after she'd worked for the sheriff during the whole Nolan disappearance case, she'd come back glowing and happy. Now the two of them were spending every non-working moment together. She knew they were in love, even if the two of them hadn't said the words.

A smile broke out on her face as Ruby started humming a song as she moved from table to table. Looking at the clock, Granny went into the kitchen to pack some lunch for the two of them. She'd just put it in a basket for Ruby when she heard something smash. Out in the dining room, the brunette was looking up at the TV, her normally stoic face ashen and tears leaking out from her eyes.

"Sheriff Swan was rushed to hospital today, after being found unconscious on her kitchen floor." The anchor was repeating, "Doctors had no comment on the cause."  
Granny wrapped her arms around the girl, before she could slump to the floor. The brunette girl couldn't believe this had happened. This morning Emma had seemed fine, her cheeks blushing red as she woke up to find her girlfriend had been staring at her as she slept. She'd seemed fine when they'd taken the shower together, before Ruby hurried off to work and Emma went to bitch at Regina. Again.

"Come on, Ruby." The elderly woman tried to coax some life back into her granddaughter. "We'll go now and visit her in the hospital, come on." She looked around the half full diner, "I'm sure Archie won't mind looking after the diner for us, wouldn't you?" That last comment was directed at the psychiatrist sitting in one of the corner booths.

"Hmm," the absent minded psychologist looked up at the sound of his name. "Oh, yeah, sure." He went back to eating his apple pie. The elderly lady took her granddaughter by the shoulder, both physically and emotionally supporting the shaking brunette.

The car ride to the hospital took too long for Ruby's comfort. Even though she knew that her presence would have no impact, emotionally she had to be there, for support and to prove to herself that she was there and this wasn't her fault. Granny reached over and squeezed her shoulder, to which the brunette shot a small smile.

Mary Margaret met them in the lobby, Henry was with her too. The black haired woman wrapped her arms around the taller girl the moment she saw her. "Are you ok, honey?"

Ruby just nodded in response, afraid that any speech on her part would break the dam holding back the tears. She buried her head into Mary's shoulder as a couple of tears leaked out, despite her best efforts. "Please, where is she?" she whispered, "I need to see her, please."

The black haired woman pulled back and stared into Ruby's eyes, then nodded at what she saw. "Ok, follow me." She grabbed the girl's hand, and led her to a room on the second floor, Henry tagging along behind them.

Dr. Whale was in Emma's room as the trio entered. He nodded to them absently as his hands checked her vitals. Emma looked peaceful, almost serene and untouched. The heart monitor showed she was alive, the only thing convincing Ruby that she wasn't dead, because the blonde's chest wasn't moving. She sat in the chair, just staring at the inert body of the lover she had kissed upon awaking less than four hours ago.

"What's wrong with her?" Mary Margaret directed the question at Dr. Whale.

He shook his head, looking baffled, "I don't know. She's not breathing, but for some unknown reason, she's still alive. There is absolutely no explanation for it." He wrote something on her chart and left the room.

"What happened?" was whispered by Ruby, "She was fine when I left, so what changed?"

Mary Margaret shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I was upstairs when I heard something big hit the ground, and I came downstairs to find her unconscious on the floor. Henry was with her though." Both women turned to look at the boy.

"She was going to leave." He looked anywhere but at Ruby. "She went to see Regina and when she came back, she was going to leave." A tear ran down the brunette's face. "I'm sure she would have asked you to go with her." He whispered. "Anyway, she ate an apple tart and then she collapsed." His eyes widened as he realised what he said.

The young boy rummaged through his bag, searching for and grabbing his fairy tale book. "It's just like what happened to Snow White. Look." Henry presented them with the page about evil queen poisoning Snow White with an apple. "She was eating an apple tart from mum."

"Henry, this isn't one of your stories." An edge had crept into Mary Margaret's voice. "Emma's lying in a hospital bed, for god knows why…"

"How was it fixed it the story?" The quiet voice of Ruby reminded them that she was there. Her red ringed eyes and tear-streaked face looking expectantly at Henry.

"True love's kiss." Mary looked between both Henry and Ruby, trying to decide which of them was more crazy. Why would they discuss something like this as if it would actually help?

For Ruby, some inner sense was telling her to listen to the boy. In her head she knew that it was irrelevant, but her heart was telling her that this was important. She looked down at the inanimate body lying next to her and made her mind up. "I'll do it." If she said it out loud, it would have been in the barest whisper.

The brunette moved and stood as close to the hospital bed as she could. A trembling hand went to Emma's face and brushed an errant hair away from her eyes. "I love you, Emma Swan." And with that statement she, very gently, touched her lips to those of the blonde.

The kiss seemed to have an electrifying tingle to it. It spread outward from the point their lips touched, through their bodies, before seemingly being ejected, sweeping outwards. Ruby gasped into the kiss and broke off, memories of her previous life running through her head. And then she heard the whisper, "I love you, too, Rubes."

The brunette didn't have an answer, she just leant down and recaptured Emma's lips with her own. Several tears were running down her face, dripping gently onto the other girls face, the kiss slowly building up, releasing all of her pent-up emotions into it, until it threatened to boil over into much more.

A cleared throat behind her reminded them that they weren't alone and Ruby broke off the kiss, blushing at how close she'd come to feeling up the blonde in the hospital bed. The girl in question struggled up to a sitting position. "I don't mean to interrupt this moment between you girls, but that is my daughter you're snogging there, Red."  
**  
My trip to America was cancelled on account of the shoulder injury I sustained. Turns out I tore a ligament off my shoulder blade and need surgery. I can't use it for two months afterwards. So that, and my current lack of inspiration, is making it hard to write. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Part two of Red's True love, hope you enjoy. Don't forget to r&r.  
thanks to my new beta, Monica Skye**

"I'm sorry, Emma. I'm leaving." And with that, the brunette girl turned and ran out of the room. She left behind a very distraught girlfriend, who was crying and calling her name. She barged into Snow on the stairs, pushing past her friend, afraid to let the woman see her own tear-stricken face.

"Hi… Red." Snow was confused, but she'd caught a glimpse of the girl's face and knew something was wrong. The tear tracks were visible and the brief eye contact they'd shared had been enough to inform the black haired woman that something was wrong. The girl's eyes had been filled with sadness, fear and what looked like dogged determination. Taking a deep breath, Snow continued up into stairs to see what was left.

The first thing she noticed was the crying, someone sobbing softly. Then she saw Emma, curled up, hugging her knees, at the end of her bed, her face buried in her arms as her body was racked with the sobs. Snow's heart broke at the sight of her daughter like that and she immediately gathered the woman into her arms. The blonde collapsed into her arms, offering no resistance as another wave of tears were released.

"Honey, what happened?" Snow figured that the girls had broken up, but she didn't know why. It was only a week ago that their declaration of love for each other had broken the curse. They hadn't spent any more time than they had to apart from each other. Now, suddenly, the black haired woman had come home to this, out of the blue.

"She told me she didn't love me." Emma managed to get out between sobs. "She told me I was just a convenience, that we couldn't be together." Snow was confused by this, the whole town thought they were cutest couple ever, so she couldn't imagine it being pressure from them. Her second thought was that maybe it was Red's grandmother that was forcing it, but she seemed happy that her granddaughter had found someone who could tame the girl.

The more Snow thought about it, the weirder the events seemed. If Red wasn't in love with Emma, than the kiss would not have awoken Emma and broken the curse. Why would Red lie so blatantly and for no apparent reason? The older woman knew Red and had never seen her like this, with one exception. Then her memory kicked in and her eyes widened.

"Was Red wearing her red cloak, Emma?" The blonde looked up and noticed the serious look on her mother's face. She thought back and then shook her head. "It's a full moon tonight." There was a blank look on the girls face. "You've read Henry's fairy tale book, haven't you?" A nod, her face still confused. "Red is the wolf, the red cloak she wears stops her from transforming."

Understanding bloomed on Emma's face, "She did this, to save me? So that she couldn't hurt us?" The blonde pushed her way out of her mothers arms and started hunting around the room. "I have to go out there. I have to find her."

Snow grabbed her arm as she tried to leave the room. "Emma, if she changes, she could attack you. She could kill you!" The taller girl tried to fight out of her mother's grasp. "We need a plan, Honey. We need to find her cloak." Emma nodded slowly and relaxed. The raven-haired woman released her arm and turned around, eyes searching the room, before the blonde bolted from the room.

Snow turned to chase her, but gave up. She ran for the phone and called the diner, "Granny, It's about Red. She doesn't have her cloak and Emma ran after her."

"…"

"I'll meet you there, just hurry, we don't have a lot of time."

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Emma wasn't sure where she was heading. She had no idea where Ruby had run off to and was starting to doubt whether she'd made the right idea haring off after the brunette. The streets were empty this late at night, a relief for the sheriff, who didn't want to have to worry about innocent bystanders.

Ruby had left no trail to be found, no hint as to where the girl had run off to, but Emma didn't think about that, she just walked through the town. There was no hint of movement, giving the town an eerie feeling. The blonde had become so used to seeing people moving around the town at all times that nothing was odd. It was almost like the citizens of Storybrooke knew something was up and were taking painstaking caution to avoid it.

The city limits backed up to the forest that encircled the town and that was where Emma found herself, standing before a relatively unknown trail that lead deep into it. However, Emma recognised it and knew exactly where it leads to. She hoped that Red would retain her instincts and head for it. The clearing at the other end was where they'd had their first date and where they'd shared their first kiss. It was a small chance, but the blonde had nothing else to go on.

The clearing was about twenty minutes walk from the edge, windy and overgrown. The path was difficult to follow, but it looked like someone had come through here recently and Emma allowed herself to hope that she was onto something.

Her hope was dashed when the clearing turned out to be empty, though signs told her that it had been used within the last few hours. Fresh dirt had turned been turned up and some grass was still slightly flattened where something rectangular had been places, most likely a picnic blanket. Someone else had had the same idea as Emma had. A tear escaped her eye from the reminder of one of the best days of her life. The blonde sighed, for despite the fact that it was a longshot, it was the only thing she could think of to find Red.

The walk back was even worse for Emma. As the night darkened, she found herself tripping up on rocks and getting snagged on branches, cursing herself for not grabbing her flashlight. She yelped and jumped, a branch had whipped back and snapped into her face, leaving her with a thin cut along the cheek.

A couple of minutes out from the city and she heard it, a low growling in the distance. It was coming from somewhere in town. Emma started running, headed towards town, trying to find the source. A howl broke the silence, startling birds out of trees, it was closer and the sheriff shivered, a sense of foreboding running down her spine. She broke into an all-out sprint, heading for the town square.

It was Henry, backed into a corner, with the wolf advancing steadily towards him. Emma's heart dropped even as she stepped forward. "Red, stop." The wolf didn't listen, continuing to advance. "Red, please, stop this." The wolf seemed to hesitate, giving Henry a small window of opportunity to escape, which he took, cambering up a wall, and out of reach of the wolf.

Red howled with fury, her eyes burning as she sought a new target, fixing upon the blonde on the opposite side of the square. She howled, the noise sounding more furious than before and barrelled across, straight into Emma. The blonde was knocked off her feet and lost her breath as she hit the ground. The wolf hovered over her as she struggled to regain her breath, jaws hovering perilously close to her neck.

Emma closed her eyes, resigning herself to the fact that the woman she loved was about to kill her. But the jaws never closed. She looked up to see the wolf head slightly cocked, tongue hanging out, staring at her expectantly. "Ruby?" the blonde whispered. The wolf licked her face and Emma ran her hands up into the mane.

"Emma?" The shout came from the other side of the courtyard and Red's hackles were raised, a low growl coming from her throat. Emma wrapped her arm around the wolf and started whispering into her ear, "Its ok Rubes, I'm right here." The Wolf looked at her and stopped growling, though the hackles remained raised.

Emma worked herself out from under the wolf, always keeping at least one hand on the wolf, willing her to remain calm. She worked her way to Granny and Snow, with Ruby, who was alternating between whimpering and growling. Henry had worked his way back down to ground level, and stood behind the two women. "It's ok, she seems tame, around me at least." The blonde shrugged, "I have no idea why."

"You're her soul mate." Granny seemed to have the answer. "Her wolf form recognises you. It knows not to hurt you." She reached down and ran her hand across the head, receiving a slight whimper. "I don't know why she seems to obey you as a wolf, probably the same thing. But it's time she came back to normal."

Snow stepped forward, prompting a small growl from the wolf, which got stopped when Emma ran her hand along the wolf's head, scratching behind her ear. That got a reaction from the wolf, who let out a yip and nuzzled her head closer, letting the blonde get more. The black haired woman smiled at the action and handed the red cloak to Emma. She careful draped it over the wolf and as it settled, the wolf started changing, until she returned to a very naked woman.

Emma helped her up, making sure the cloak didn't move and expose her. "I'll take her back."

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The cold beer in her hand was but a small distraction compared to what was raging in her mind. She'd got Red home and bundled her into bed, making sure the cloak was still wrapped tightly around the woman. Emma had immediately gone down and got a beer, dumping herself on the couch.

"Emma, why are you down here?" The red cloak peeked out from underneath the sheet that Red had wrapped around herself.

"I was thinking", Emma sighed and took a swig. "Why didn't you trust me? Why didn't you tell me, Rubes?"

"I was scared." The brunette admitted in a small voice. "I was scared that I would hurt you, or you would freak out and run away." She turned away, afraid to let Emma see the tears in her eyes. "I don't want you out of my life."

Emma stubbornly remained seated, even as her heart fought to go and comfort the brunette, whose shoulders had started shaking with silent sobs. "So your answer was to break up with me?" she couldn't keep an angry tone out of her voice, "In what world does that make sense, Red?"

The brunette started at the sound of Emma calling her Red. It was the first time that she'd called her that. Tear tracts were all that could be seen, though her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. "I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't even know it could happen in Storybrooke, until I felt it today. I couldn't find the cloak and I panicked."

"You aren't my Ruby anymore, are you?" Emma refused to meet Red's eyes, afraid that her resolve would break.

"I don't want to be Red." The dam had broken and tears were streaming down her face, "I don't want to be the wolf. I wish this whole thing hadn't happened." She started towards the sitting blonde and placed her hands onto Emma's face. "I want you."

Emma hazarded a look up, to see Red staring back at her, eyes overflowing. The blonde's heart broke and she pulled herself up, planting a kiss on the brunette. She wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her close. "Don't you dare do it again, Ruby." The taller girl dug her face into the shoulder of her girlfriend. "I love you, Ruby, and I can help, but you need to let me know these things."

"I was just scared. I didn't want to hurt anyone."

"And you almost ended up killing my son." An edge had entered into the blondes voice and she could feel the girl in her arms trying to pull away, but didn't let her. "Why didn't you go to Granny? Why didn't you go to Mary Margaret? Why didn't you ask for help?" It turned into pleading at the end and a fresh wave of tears wet her shoulder.

"I don't know." It was so faint that the only reason Emma knew it wasn't a figment of her imagination was because she felt the crying girls mouth head move against her shoulder. "Please don't hate me. I didn't mean to hurt anyone or even hurt them."

"I don't hate you, Ruby. I could never hate you." Emma kissed the brunette hairline. "I love you too much to hate you. Just don't do it again."


End file.
